A total of 2,238 MIC branches from G Palanivel's faction filed their nomination papers for branch elections, a party official from the former MIC president said yesterday.

MIC national information chief from Palanivel's faction, L Sivasubramaniam, claimed 2,238 branches from 10 states had filed their nominations yesterday.

"In Kedah 220 from 290 branches filed their nominations, Penang (102 out of 230 branches), Melaka (61 of 138), Negeri Sembilan (222 of 312), Johor (346 of 528), Pahang (168 of 208), Selangor (550 of 960), Perak (421 of 720), Perlis (13 of 33) and Federal Territory (135 branches)," he told Bernama when contacted last night.

On June 29, Palanivel who maintained that he was still the MIC president, had set July 15 and 16 for branch nominations but the secretary-general appointed by Palanivel, S Sothinathan ( photo ) later changed the date to July 9.

The nomination process started at 5pm and ended at 8pm.

Sivasubramaniam claimed there are 3,954 MIC branches nationwide, of which 454 were defunct.

Meanwhile, when contacted by Bernama , Sothinathan said the branch level nominations went on smoothly and whoever supported Palanivel had filed their nominations today.

In Pahang, MIC state liaison chairperson K Tamil Selvam said 168 from 208 branches in Pahang filed their nomination in two hours at the party's state headquarters in Mentakab.

Penang MIC chairperson M Karuppanan said there would be no contest at the branch level for the state.

'Grassroots support for Palanivel still intact'

In Johor, state MIC Youth chief S Deva said branches that accepted their nomination forms on July 5, submitted their nominations at Dewan Desa Rehat Tampoi, Johor Bahru; Dewan Raya Yong Peng; and Ledang MIC Division office today.

"About 66 percent of the branches submitted their nomination, proving that the grassroots support for Palanivel is still intact," he said.

Meanwhile, tomorrow will be branch nominations day for the faction led by MIC acting president Dr S Subramaniam and the nomination will be held for three days (July 10-12).

The MIC crisis erupted following differences in opinion between Palanivel and Subramaniam after the Registrar of Societies (ROS) issued a notice on Dec 5, directing the party to hold fresh elections for three vice-presidents and 23 Central Working Committee (CWC) member posts.

Like the devastating effect of an earthquake, the crisis split the MIC right down the middle and reached boiling point when the ROS director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah, in a letter dated June 25 to the MIC secretary-general of the interim 2009 CWC A Sakthivel, stated that Palanivel had ceased to be a member of the MIC "ipso facto".

The letter stated that Subramaniam would take over Palanivel's duties as acting president.

On July 6, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted an interim injunction to stop Palanivel from carrying out his duties as the MIC president and holding gatherings in the party.

- Bernama